Lost Evidence - Saipan

Genre:.....................WWII Documentary
Language:.................English - No Subs
Picture:...................Colour - B&W
Runtime:..................44mins
Size:........................349Mb

Seven American battleships and 11 destroyers shelled Saipan and Tinian for 2 days before the landings, firing 15000 16-inch and 5-inch shells at the islands along with 165000 other shells of other caliber. To even begin to comprehend the magnitude of this onslaught, one needs to realize that a single 16-inch round weighs slightly more than a Volkswagen Beetle, besides being packed with high explosives. On the second day of the bombardment, this force was joined by 8 more battleships, 6 heavy cruisers and 5 light cruisers. The islands were ringed by American warships with their guns blazing. Shells rained down on the island, its villages, inhabitants, and defenders, gouging huge craters in the sand and coral. The earth trembled under the tremendous explosions of naval bombardment and simultaneous air attacks.